Endoscopic management of acute pancreatitis.

Patients presenting with acute pancreatitis can be complex on different levels. Having a multifaceted approach to these patients is often necessary with radiographic, endoscopic, and surgical modalities all working to benefit the patient. Major surgical intervention can often be avoided or augmented by therapeutic and diagnostic endoscopic maneuvers. The diagnostic role of endoscopy in patients presenting with acute idiopathic pancreatitis can help define specific causative factors and ameliorate symptoms by endoscopic maneuvers. Etiologies of an acute pancreatitis episode, such as choledocholithiasis with or without concomitant cholangitis, microlithiasis or biliary sludge, and anatomic anomalies, such as pancreas divisum and pancreatobiliary ductal anomalies, often improve after endoscopic therapy.